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Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole
Magazine
Gazetteer Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole What is it famous for? Providing a
holiday camp atmosphere and summer coastal hideaway for biologists, on the southwestern corner of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. A small core of researchers in 20 labs can be found working at MBL year round, and a handful of conferences are held there. But the summer courses provide both the best excuse for going to Woods Hole and much of the atmosphere; 150 labs have a summer presence at MBL.
six full-length courses, some of which have been running for more than 100 years, comprising formal teaching and a lot of laboratory instruction and project work, and running for six to nine weeks each. They are: Embryology (now a mainstream developmental biology course, and no longer exclusively focused on marine organisms); Physiology (really molecular biology); Microbial Diversity; Neural
How did it start? MBL was founded
in 1888 as a non-profit institution for biological research and education. Eminent biologists such as L. Agassiz and T.N. Gill started working at Woods Hole, primarily because of the numerous marine organisms readily available for study, but also to avoid sweltering urban summers. Why Woods Hole? The town of Woods Hole was already well established, having prospered first as a whaling station and then as the home of the Pacific Guano Works. It is also home to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and laboratories of the National Marine Fisheries Service and the US Geological Survey, and is the ferry terminus for boats to the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Who runs it? The MBL Corporation
has around 725 members, and is governed by a board of trustees. The content of the courses is largely determined by the Course Director(s), who stamp their views and personalities on both the social and the scientific agenda for each course. What are the courses? At the heart of the MBL educational program are
The Woods Hole area. MBL is around the edge of Eel Pond, near the Oceanographic Institute. Map courtesy of the US Geological Survey.
Systems and Behavior; Biology of Parasitism (including immunology); and Neurobiology. In 1995, 134 students and 194 instructors from around the US and elsewhere gathered for these courses. But no course would be complete without the 30 or so guest lecturers. Even more than the faculty, they represent the great and the good of modern biology, and often stick around for a day or two to be quizzed by the students. Who can go on a course? In theory any grad student or post-doctoral fellow; in practice its often easier for Americans and those who know an instructor. See MBL’s web pages (http://www.mbl.edu) for details of next summer’s offerings.
R63
What is the social life like? The social aspects of Woods Hole are rightly infamous — no-one escapes late-night swimming in the phosphorescent sea — and the social life is perfectly organized around the dedicated scientist’s need for access to the lab at all hours. Impromptu gatherings tend to erupt in corridors and stairwells, wherever there is beer or a few chairs. Conversation in the village hostelry, the Captain Kidd, is as likely to be about NIH grants and the latest cloning technology as baseball or politics. Many life-long friendships and partnerships are born at MBL, and the affection most alumni feel for the place can be gauged by how often you see MBL T-shirts at conferences. Who funds all this fun? The Howard Hughes Medical Institute underwrites the educational program, but sponsorship and scholarships also come from NIH, various biological societies, the US government, several charities, some large corporations (for instance, Burroughs Wellcome helps fund the Parasitism course), and a few individuals. Many manufacturers loan their state-of-the-art lab equipment to MBL for the summer, so its often the best place to try out a new confocal microscope or video imaging system. What happens there in the winter?
Most of the original make-shift huts have now been replaced by brick buildings, which are heated in winter. Even so, the year-round researchers are a hardy breed who can survive the harsh winters and the social isolation of working in a beach resort off-season. Some yearround programs are run jointly with Boston University and the University of Pennsylvania, and there is a continuing series of Symposia, an excellent library and a Marine Resources Center, which collects more than 200 species of marine organism and ships them to researchers around the world.
Gazetteer Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole What is it famous for? Providing a
holiday camp atmosphere and summer coastal hideaway for biologists, on the southwestern corner of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. A small core of researchers in 20 labs can be found working at MBL year round, and a handful of conferences are held there. But the summer courses provide both the best excuse for going to Woods Hole and much of the atmosphere; 150 labs have a summer presence at MBL.
six full-length courses, some of which have been running for more than 100 years, comprising formal teaching and a lot of laboratory instruction and project work, and running for six to nine weeks each. They are: Embryology (now a mainstream developmental biology course, and no longer exclusively focused on marine organisms); Physiology (really molecular biology); Microbial Diversity; Neural
How did it start? MBL was founded
in 1888 as a non-profit institution for biological research and education. Eminent biologists such as L. Agassiz and T.N. Gill started working at Woods Hole, primarily because of the numerous marine organisms readily available for study, but also to avoid sweltering urban summers. Why Woods Hole? The town of Woods Hole was already well established, having prospered first as a whaling station and then as the home of the Pacific Guano Works. It is also home to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and laboratories of the National Marine Fisheries Service and the US Geological Survey, and is the ferry terminus for boats to the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Who runs it? The MBL Corporation
has around 725 members, and is governed by a board of trustees. The content of the courses is largely determined by the Course Director(s), who stamp their views and personalities on both the social and the scientific agenda for each course. What are the courses? At the heart of the MBL educational program are
The Woods Hole area. MBL is around the edge of Eel Pond, near the Oceanographic Institute. Map courtesy of the US Geological Survey.
Systems and Behavior; Biology of Parasitism (including immunology); and Neurobiology. In 1995, 134 students and 194 instructors from around the US and elsewhere gathered for these courses. But no course would be complete without the 30 or so guest lecturers. Even more than the faculty, they represent the great and the good of modern biology, and often stick around for a day or two to be quizzed by the students. Who can go on a course? In theory any grad student or post-doctoral fellow; in practice its often easier for Americans and those who know an instructor. See MBL’s web pages (http://www.mbl.edu) for details of next summer’s offerings.
R63
What is the social life like? The social aspects of Woods Hole are rightly infamous — no-one escapes late-night swimming in the phosphorescent sea — and the social life is perfectly organized around the dedicated scientist’s need for access to the lab at all hours. Impromptu gatherings tend to erupt in corridors and stairwells, wherever there is beer or a few chairs. Conversation in the village hostelry, the Captain Kidd, is as likely to be about NIH grants and the latest cloning technology as baseball or politics. Many life-long friendships and partnerships are born at MBL, and the affection most alumni feel for the place can be gauged by how often you see MBL T-shirts at conferences. Who funds all this fun? The Howard Hughes Medical Institute underwrites the educational program, but sponsorship and scholarships also come from NIH, various biological societies, the US government, several charities, some large corporations (for instance, Burroughs Wellcome helps fund the Parasitism course), and a few individuals. Many manufacturers loan their state-of-the-art lab equipment to MBL for the summer, so its often the best place to try out a new confocal microscope or video imaging system. What happens there in the winter?
Most of the original make-shift huts have now been replaced by brick buildings, which are heated in winter. Even so, the year-round researchers are a hardy breed who can survive the harsh winters and the social isolation of working in a beach resort off-season. Some yearround programs are run jointly with Boston University and the University of Pennsylvania, and there is a continuing series of Symposia, an excellent library and a Marine Resources Center, which collects more than 200 species of marine organism and ships them to researchers around the world.